In her “In My View” on Thursday, April 17, Bev Peterson tries her best to defend Rev. Jeremiah Wright’s antics that have so embarrassed presidential candidate Barack Obama. She is attempting to defend the indefensible.

Wright’s defenders claim the controversy is about a few remarks taken out of context from a lifelong career of public service. That doesn’t wash.

First, there is NO context that can explain or justify someone at the pulpit shouting “God d— America” or that Sept. 11 was “America’s chickens coming home to roost” or calling the United States the “U.S. of KKK A.” Furthermore, these are only the remarks that have come to light, not the only such remarks that may exist. It stretches credulity to argue that in the 30-plus years Rev. Wright served at his church, he spoke with such vitriol only three times.

Rev. Wright has made a career claiming oppression of blacks by whites — especially “rich white people.” Why? He grew up in a middle class home and attended premier public schools in Philadelphia, where his academic achievements earned praise from the predominantly white (and Jewish) student body.

He attended Virginia Union University 1959-61 (How many blacks or poor whites could do that in 1959?) before either he was inspired by John F. Kennedy (Wikipedia) or he was disenchanted with his school’s inadequate Christian response to the civil rights movement (Chicago Tribune) and quit to enlist in the Marines.

We should neither disparage Rev. Wright’s military service nor make more of it than it was. He served two years in the Marines before transferring to the Navy and becoming a corpsman. With 20 years of military service, I never heard of training courses for the enlisted ranks having valedictorians and salutatorians — I suspect Rev. Wright simply earned Honor Graduate, not surprising given his academic training. He then spent four years at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md., while other Navy corpsmen were being assigned to Marine combat units in South Vietnam. He received three letters of commendation from the White House (Wikipedia), not three Navy Commendation Medals as Ms. Peterson implies. In short, he had a cushy military job for most of his service in uniform. Evidently, his years of service did not bond him to his comrades in arms or he never would have been able to say what he said. Maybe if he had spent more time in the field.

The white folks who are so welcome at Trinity United Church of Christ must be immersed in guilt or gluttons for punishment. Why else would they sit there listening to “Black Liberation Theology” and have the good Reverend blame them for all the ills — including the HIV epidemic — in the black community?

Pointing to times when Hillary Clinton’s or John McCain’s solicited support from the likes of The Fellowship (an obscure cult in Australia) or the Rev. John Hagee is just a smokescreen for Barack Obama. Politicians often solicit votes from anyone; that is why we don’t trust them. But neither Ms. Clinton nor Mr. McCain put The Fellowship or Rev. Hagee at the centers of their lives. Mr. Obama spent 20 years in Rev. Wright’s church, and Mr. Obama called Rev. Wright his “spiritual mentor” — hate for whites and America, and all. Also, let’s remember: Rev. Wright would still be a personal advisor to Mr. Obama and his political campaign, and probably his administration if elected, had all this not come to light.

I read the e-mail to Lanny Davis Ms. Peterson mentions. While it is a moving portrait of this man’s personal experience, it is not applicable to Barack Obama. The e-mail writer isn’t running for president of the United States so his uncertainty about “what I had done before to prove my blackness” and his need to bond is a private matter. We can’t afford a president who is psychologically needy.

Finally, let’s end this nonsense that Jesus was some sort of rabble rouser preaching truth to power. Yes, he and the prophets spoke harshly to corrupt leaders. But unlike Rev. Wright, they called on all individuals, rich and poor, high and low, each and every one to repent and turn to God. And unlike Rev. Wright, they didn’t retire to a 10,000-square-foot multi-million dollar home on a golf course and surrounded by the very rich white people he spent decades lambasting. It is sad that preaching love, repentance, and faith and trust in God are as contrary to “popular wisdom” today as they were 2,000 years ago. There is nothing in the teachings of Jesus or the prophets that justifies the Rev. Wright. There is no justification for his hate.